Because I Said

What Happened to Wednesday?

I had been planning all day to post my White Wednesday photos and was sitting at the computer earlier and realized that today isn’t Wednesday, it’s Thursday!  Not sure why I thought that today was Wednesday???  Maybe wishful thinking so I could accomplish more by Friday!

So I thought I would share with you some of the things I’ve been working on this past week.  Remember this table I mentioned that I was working on?  Well I finally finished it up.  The set of lockers sold down at the store and I needed a few things to replace them with.

I really like how it turned out!  It was a fun project to put together as well.  I added a few different moldings and bead board to add some character.

The shelves are a soft white and then I distressed the edges and followed with a glaze to bring out the edges a bit more.  I took it down to the store yesterday and did some rearranging while I was there.

I think moving things around a bit helps some of the pieces stand out that may have not before.  One of the girls thought I brought in a new chair, but it had been there the whole time.

This shabby white desk is also new down there.  This would look so cute in a girls room.  It’s hard not to keep some of these finished pieces!

The blue dresser is still there, but it’s been looked at a lot!  It’s such a fun color!  I’m heading down there tomorrow again to revamp the whole space so the blue dresser will be moved to the back of the store.  I’m so excited for Fall and Halloween.  I thought it would be fun to add it to the space.  I will take photos of the finished set up and share them next week.

  

This table is one that I’ve been working on this week.  It’s actually close to being finished! I’m hoping to have it done for next week.

This is another piece that is in the process of being finished.  I forgot to take a before photo until I was half way through the prime coat.  Any guesses as to what color it will be? It’s drying and waiting for a finish coat and should be ready to go next week as well.  I’ve really enjoyed working on all these different pieces and can’t wait to start on some new ones.

Thanks for stopping by and check back soon for photos of the shop!

Etsy Update

So I’ve been busy taking photos and uploading some things to my etsy store today.  It always seems to take longer then I plan for, but I enjoy the time doing it.  While I was at it I made a new shop banner.  Nothing elaborate,  simple and to the point.  I was able to use some photos that I had taken of vintage finds.

Even though it’s still in the triple digits here fall is quickly approaching.  Keeping my fingers crossed that the weather shows us the fall temps soon!  I thought I would add some trim cards to the shop.  All the trims here are vintage and would add a unique touch to all those upcoming projects!

I also added some of my mini kits.  There are a few different ones to choose from.  They have hand cut mini wood shapes along with vintage goodies and embellishments.  Also shown are hand crocheted flowers and scallop punches. 

 

With Sept being back to school for most people I thought a back to school art journal would be fun to have.  I have made 2 different sizes to choose from.  This one is the larger one and comes with an embellishment kit as well.  The journals are made up from lots of fun vintage papers.  These would be great to add photos to or even journaling through out the school year.

This one is a sample of the smaller art journal. It also has lots of fun vintage papers put together on a large book ring.  I’ve even stitched on the side of some of the papers for added texture.

This last item is a hand painted welcome sign.  I painted it on aged barn wood.  This adds to the character and patina of the wood.  The sign is ready to hang on the wall or would look great sitting on a shelf as well.

Thanks for stopping by.  Pondering what to put up for White Wednesday!

Things I've Remembered

Well this week has been full of many lessons!  I thought I would share several of them along with a few photos.  Some are more serious then others, but hey they’ve all been things that I’ve been reminded of.  And ya never know I might even do this again next Friday…guess time will tell!

 

1. These are 2 of my most favorite tools!

2. Perseverance pays off!  Keep going!

3. Patience is definitely a virtue and something I need to strive for!

4. If your body says you need a break…TAKE IT!

5. The dusting will still be there next week no matter if you do it this week or not!

6. Laundry grows from a small hill to a giant mountain overnight.

7. Measure twice, cut once!  Ya you’d think I would know this by now!

8. My son has mad dancing skillz when it comes to “Can’t Touch This”

9. Drs and modern medicine are amazing!

10. Take time to enjoy the small things!

11. Family and Friends are a huge blessing!

12. Kids prayers are an amazing thing!

13. My hubby would do anything for his family! He’s a great man!

14. When your computer has issues you realize how much you rely on it!

15. Probably not giving up my Diet DP anytime soon!

I guess it’s good to have these little reminders!  It makes me realize what I’m grateful for and what’s really important in the large scheme of things!  So more for me then anything else I will try and do this on the weekends.  I’ve learned that if you look for the things your grateful for you don’t focus as much on the trials your dealing with.  If this is something you want to join in with please do!  I would love to see the things you are grateful for or reminded of thru the week!

So before I get back to work I wanted to share an update on my furniture piece.  Remember this? Well it’s almost done.  This is a little peek for you.  I just need to paint and finish her up and then I will make sure and share the transformation!  Probably sometime next week!

Have a great weekend and look for lifes little reminders!

What's in the Shop?

So I was able to get a few more things taken down to the shop on Friday night.  I had spent some time painting a business sign for my space to take with me.  I had so much fun making it and can’t wait to paint more of them just with different words!

I snapped this photo before I took it down to the shop.  I need to get a better one of it.  That’s what I get for trying to do something when I’m in a hurry.  Does anyone else ever do that?

I should probably save this for tomorrow on White Wed, but oh well.  I took down some vintage books to fill in some space and here I also have a cute vintage jewelry box as well.  It was fun going down and spending some time moving stuff around a bit and making it pretty again.  I had to make it quick though, because the second Friday of the month all the stores downtown stay open late.  It got so busy in there it was a bit crazy.

I took down this cute vintage filing cabinet.  It’s really cute, because it’s not as deep as a normal one and the top drawer is smaller.  It has 2 bigger drawers underneath.  I thought it would make the cutest side table in a bedroom or other area.  I love mixing the industrial look with the cottage/shabby look.  I stacked up some more vintage books and then some new signs that I painted.  I thought it would be fun to go with a little bit of a baseball theme.  These signs look cute sitting on a shelf or desk, but they also can be hung on the wall.

  

 

 Here's a little bit of a closer look for ya.  I think they look cute with a few baseballs hanging out with them.

This is another one of the signs I worked on last week.  I have had this wood that I rescued from somewhere and loved the aged look of it.  I even left the rusted nails in the side of it. I thought they added more character to it.  Plus they had been sanded down and aren’t a safety issue.  I had fun painting this one.  I love how the added shadow just adds a bit more character to the sign.  Below my sign I have some chalkboard tags that I cut and painted.  These make cute tags to hang on baskets or buckets to organize with.  I also thought they would be cute tied on to a gift.  I will be adding some of these to my Etsy shop soon.

That’s all of the new photos for now.  I need to snap a few more of a few other things I have.  I have another new sign and some back to school paper crafting goodies as well!  Plus I need to find something for tomorrow…White Wed.  Wish me luck on that!  Thanks for stopping by and if you haven’t joined my facebook page please do.  My shop has it’s own page now!

White Wednesday

  Well I guess I’m cutting a bit close.  In fact the photos I’m going to share with you are some that I’ve had for awhile now.  I love vintage and old things.   One of my favorites are the old watch faces.

 

   

Not sure what it is about these, but they just make me smile!  I’m loving numbers right now to and these have some fun ones on them.

                   

 

White and cream lace is another thing I can’t get enough of.  I’m sure my hubby would disagree with that one.  I’m sure he would say I have enough to supply our whole neighborhood and then some.  It just comes in handy for so many projects!

 

 

Another favorite right now is anything with a hint of tarnished silver.  It goes with anything.  I love how these forks blend so well with the vintage book. 

Today I kept busy on the coffee table project for a bit.  The construction part of it is almost done then I will need to decide a color for it.  I’m actually thinking of a pretty cream or white.  I came inside to cool down for a bit and worked on a few new projects.  I’ve been in the mood to paint some signs.  I needed one for my space and then got carried away and have several others that are in the works as well.  Hopefully I will have some new stuff to share tomorrow.  Hoping to take some new stuff down to the shop tomorrow if not Friday afternoon.

Off to paint for a bit and then hit the sack.

White Wednesday Inspiration

 

 

 

 

 

9 Lives ?

Well this table is going on it’s 3rd life.  Hoping it doesn’t make it to 9!  When I first bought it about 7 or so years ago it was a dining table.  It’s about 60” long. Not sure if you can tell that from the photo.  Well at the time we were in the need for a coffee table.  So it got it’s legs cut down and moved onto it’s 2nd life.  The plan was to paint it though.  Well over the years I have put it off and finally decided yesterday that it needed a change.  My thought was to just keep it as a table and just refinish it with paint.  Well then I had a thought…it needed a complete makeover.  So it’s in the beginning stages of life #3.

I worked on it for a bit yesterday, but it was getting hot out there so I opted for the cool air inside.  So it’s in 4 different pieces.  Any guesses as to what it will be?  Here’s to hoping that the 3rd life is a charm!

Returning to an Old Love

 
Well it's been awhile since I last blogged.  Of course Wed would roll around and I would think oh I need to post something at least for "White Wed" and then that was the end of it.  I think we are finally settling back into a routine around here which makes us all happy.  School has started and it came with a lot of mixed emotions.  A lot of changes which are always hard, but good for us.  It also meant that this hard summer was finally behind us.  We have had manystruggles this summer that made us realize how grateful we are for our family and friends.  I'm also loving the new things that I see all 3 of my kids doing with school.  They remind me of how much I love being a mom.

This is one of the photos I had planned on sharing on a Wed.  So I already had the photos just didn't post them.  This photo is what I have been working on for awhile.  About 16 years ago I taught myself how to use a scroll saw.  It came from not being able to find wood cutouts to paint on.  I was also a self taught tole painter I know I'm dating myself by admitting that.  I always had a love to create things, but at this point I wanted to pursue it even further.  This is when I first began sharing my items at boutiques.  I worked with my mom most of the time and together we put in a lot of long hours.  My dad was even a good sport and during our crunch times he could be found helping out.  As time went on we just expanded on things and I got involved in refinishing furniture as well.  I can still remember my makeshift workspace in one of my apartments on the patio and I was in the upper apartment.  I was lucky enough to have a good neighbor below!

 
As time went on and I remarried I found myself going in a different direction in life.  I decided to take a break from things for awhile and enjoyed working on our house.  Of course after time I craved making things and wanted to get back into something.  I found myself finally giving in to the Scrapbook world that I thought would be just a fad. Boy was I ever wrong!  I fell in love with this new found craft and couldn't get enough of it!  I met so many wonderful people and friends along the way.  I also started to incorporate my wood into my scrapbook pages.  Before long I found myself leaning towards the altered art world and all the fun and different projects.  I've always had a love for antiques and old worn things so it was no shock that I couldn't get enough of anything vintage.  I had fun incorporating those things into my work and my house.  Along the way I was selling my wood shapes and loving every minute of it.  Of course many months ago I felt myself feeling that pull again.  The need for a new change.  Seems to be a cycle in my life!  I wasn't sure for a long time what I needed to do though.  I had thoughts and just never could bring myself to commit to anything.  Then several things happened in my life that helped things fall into place.  I knew that I was going to go back to an old love of mine!  Refinishing furniture and creating things from things that have been found.  I am so excited about this and have been loving every minute of it.

 
So first I need to apologize for these photos.  They were taken at 2 a.m. and aren't the best.  But at least you will have an idea until I have new ones to share.  So with this new change I have rented a space in one of our local shops.  The shop is a fun and cute shop in Mesa called Contagious.  On one side of the shop you have lots of wonderful clothes and accessories and on the other side you have other vendors selling their goodies.  The owners have been wonderful and easy to work with!  I'm so excited for this new venture!

 
It will give me a chance to still do my wood work, but also a chance to do finished projects, something I've been craving for a long time!  If you are local please take a peek down there and see what you think!  With a lot of help I was able to get the space set up Friday night.  My goal is to make and decorate with somewhat of a theme each month and then have other little goodies as well. 

 
Here in AZ the kids go back to school in August.  I was always used to the schedule of school starting after Labor Day.  I think that is still the same in some states.  So for me Sept reminds me of "Back to School"  So I went with that this time around.  I was able to find lots of fun goodies to fall into the theme. 

 
So I know this post is getting long so I will wrap it up here.  Just want to let you know that I will still be doing my unfinished wood and other goodies in my Etsy shop.  I have a few things already waiting to be listed.  It just might take a bit of time to get it all running together smoothly.  I'm hoping to post photos of things before taking to the shop so you locals can have a heads up of what's coming.  One of my favorite finds that's down there now are these set of vintage lockers.  I had originally planned on keeping them and putting them in our game room, but my hubby said I can't keep everything I buy.  I finally realized he was right and gave in to taking them down there.  I know they will go to a good home though!

Again these photos aren't the best. This cute little stool is a fun light aqua and it doesn't show up here.  I did want to share something with you though.  I'm excited for this new journey and hope you will check in often.  I have lots of fun things planned that will take time, but I can't wait!  So many more things I want to share, but I will save them for future posts! Enjoy the new week ahead!